Nicole Scherzinger apologises for swearing during James Arthur sing-off

Nicole Scherzinger has apologised for swearing during the X Factor results show which saw her act James Arthur in the bottom two – as well as describing the result which saw Ella Henderson go home as a ‘tragedy’.

Nicole Scherzinger has had to apologise for swearing during the results show (Picture: Rex)

Last night both Ella and James fell into the bottom two meaning they both had to perform one more time for the judges in the sing-off.

Ella went first, performing her rendition of Daniel Bedingfield’s If You’re Not The One.

But as Nicole introduced James to the stage for his sing-off performance, of which he performed Alicia Keys’ Fallin’, the clearly distressed mentor swore as she said his name.

‘One of the greatest artists and talents to every grace this stage. I’m so proud, this is James effin’ Arthur,’ she said..

Nicole needed comforting by judges Louis Walsh and Gary Barlow during the show (Picture: Rex)

Show favourite Ella, 16, was then booted out of the competition when she lost the public vote to James after the judges failed to come to a unanimous decision.

But amid the shocking news, Nicole was later forced to apologise on-air on spin-off show The Xtra Factor.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘You know what you spend every day with these people and you invest so much of your time and you believe in them so much.’

Nicole held her head in her hands as it was revealed James was in the bottom two (Picture: ITV)

She went on to express her sadness at Ella having left the competition, despite her being in Tulisa’s rival category.

‘Even though I’m not Ella’s mentor as well, I’m close to Tulisa. I care about her, she’s the only last female in the competition. I was passionate about both of those people and definitely about James Arthur – one of the greatest human talents ever – so I’m so sorry for my effin,’ she said.

And when asked why she thought James fell into the bottom two this week, she admitted she was clueless: ‘I don’t know I kind of thought he was brilliant every week.’

James Arthur looked nervous as he performed Fallin’ during the sing-off (Picture: Rex)

Nicole is the only judge left with all three acts in the show.

Tulisa now has no acts, Louis has Union J and Gary has Christopher Maloney.

There has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding Nicole’s act Rylan Clark, who is known more for his crazy dance routines rather than his singing abilities, but he escaped the bottom two this week.

Nicole didn’t look overly happy as she arrived at the restaurant (Picture: Xposure)

The X Factor judge nearly lost her act James Arthur (Picture: Xposure)

But when questioned on whether she thinks Rylan should have polled fewer votes than James, Nicole tactfully answered: ‘I don’t know because I think that Rylan – first of all, thank you so much to all the humans that voted for Rylan – he has earned his place here and he’s a star in his own right. No matter what anyone else says, I stick by Rylan.

‘It’s just a tragedy that James was in the bottom two. It was weird Rylan thought he was going home and he said his psychic was going home, so with all that stuff, I think it was more probable Rylan would be in the bottom two and not James but you never know.’

Louis Walsh poses with a female friend as he leaves the restaurant (Picture: Xposure)

After the tense show was over, Nicole and Louis headed out for dinner to C restaurant in London’s trendy Mayfair.

The former Pussycat Doll looked noticeably glum as she arrived at the restaurant but she’s sure to have cheered up later in the night as Louis was wearing a big smile.